Archives

Amaranth Patties with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

Baked Amaranth Patties with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

These little patties may not look like much, but their crispy outside and soft savory inside make for a tasty appetizer or main dish.  We actually ate a few of them along with a big salad for dinner recently and were quite satisfied.  I also wrapped up the leftover patties in some tortillas with lettuce and herbed yogurt sauce and we had them for lunch the next day.

Amaranth is a tiny little grain that is high in protein and other essential vitamins and minerals, and actually played a very interesting role in the lives of the Aztecs in Mexico and Central America (click here for more information ).  Suffice it to say, amaranth is a grain that is worth looking into and best of all, eating!

IMG_3795

Amaranth Patties with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

You could serve these patties with all sorts of different sauces (marinara, romesco, etc.), but I decided on a yogurt sauce based on the ingredients we had on hand. The recipe itself is based on a few different recipes that I found online (see here, here, and here) and the vegetables that I used could easily be switched out for other veggies you may have. 

  • 1 cup amaranth
  • 2 cups water
  • Olive oil
  • 8 thinly sliced green onions, white and light green parts only
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 5 baby carrots, finely diced
  • 3 cups of roughly chopped spinach
  • 10-12 small fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 cups panko bread crumbs
  • Herbed yogurt sauce (see recipe below)

Put amaranth and water into a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.  Boil for about 20 minutes or until the amaranth is soft and the water has been absorbed.

While the amaranth cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and add the green onions.  Cook the onions for a minute and then add the garlic.  Cook for another minute.  Add the carrots, chopped spinach and sage leaves and cook until the spinach has fully wilted. 

In a large bowl, stir together the cooked amaranth and the vegetable mixture.  Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes before adding the feta.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in the beaten egg.

Prepare two large baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper and drizzle the paper with a good amount of olive oil (a few tablespoons each).

Pour panko on to a large plate or into a large bowl.  Form a small patty from the amaranth mixture with one hand and drop it onto the panko.  With the other hand, coat the rest of patty with panko.  Place the panko coated patty on one of the prepared baking sheets.  Repeat until all of the amaranth mixture is breaded.

Bake patties on one side for roughly 10 minutes at 400° and then flip the patties with a spatula and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. Patties should be golden on both sides.  Serve patties drizzled with herbed yogurt sauce.

Herbed Yogurt Sauce/Dip

I used some homemade yogurt for this recipe, but store bought will work perfectly well.  If you want a thicker sauce, try making the recipe with Greek yogurt. Several different combinations of fresh herbs will also work for this sauce.

  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder (This is my best estimate for the amount of garlic powder because I didn’t actually measure it out—just sprinkled some in.  Use your best judgment and add to taste.)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, stir together all of the ingredients. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card Notes About Recipe Ratings

Tasty Rating

Chefs--4.1

Four Chefs (Delicious!)

A tasty way to incorporate more whole grains in your diet!

Easy Rating

easy--2

Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…)

There are several steps and dishes/pans involved in making this dish. I ended up cooking the amaranth the day before I was serving the patties to cut down on the prep time before dinner was served.

Healthy Rating

healthy--4

Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise)

As I mentioned above, amaranth is a whole grain that is packed with protein, vitamins, and minerals. The patties themselves are baked instead of fried, which cuts down the amount of oil that they absorb.  You could also leave out the feta for a slightly healthier dish.

Green Rating

green--4

Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved)

All the herbs were from our container herb garden.  Some of the produce was local and organic and many of the remaining ingredients were organic.
Share

White Bean Ragout on Toast with Oregano Pesto

White Bean Ragout on Toast with Oregano Pesto

I had kind of a hard time picking out a good name for this dish.  Graham called it a super-bruschetta, and I had been calling it fancy beans on toast, but I wasn’t sure that either was a very blog-worthy or appealing title for such a delicious main dish.  I ended up searching online for a name and picked ‘ragout’ (pronounced “rah-goo”) because I found a somewhat similar dish with that name and because ragout sounds a little more sophisticated than fancy beans. :)  According to Wikipedia, it comes from the French ragoûter, which means “to revive the taste.”

Anyway, this dish is a slightly different take on an older recipe that I posted a while back, Lima Beans with Stewed Tomatoes and Oregano Pesto.  Both dishes are excellent and definitely worth making, but the ragout is probably a little quicker to make than the lima bean dish.  I’ve made the ragout a few times for weeknight dinners and haven’t had to spend too much time in the kitchen preparing the meal.

White Bean Ragout on Toast

White Bean Ragout on Toast with Oregano Pesto

I used simple sourdough bread for the toast, but you could use ciabatta bread or a sliced baguette.  In the past I have omitted the oregano pesto and used a delicious rosemary baguette, which was also a tasty combination. 

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
  • 1 15oz can of white beans/cannellini beans, drained
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Bread for toasting
  • Oregano pesto (see below)
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Oregano Pesto

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • Salt to taste

In a large sauce pan, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and add the onions.  Cook until onions are translucent and then add the garlic.  Cook for one more minute and then carefully pour in the tomatoes with their juice. Cook the mixture for about 5 minutes. Stir in the drained white bean and cook for another 5 minutes or until the mixture has thicken a bit.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  When the ragout is almost done cooking, toast the bread.

While the ragout cooks, make the oregano pesto by pureeing the olive oil, oregano, parsley, garlic and salt in the bowl of a food processor.

To assemble the dish, drizzle the toasted bread with a little bit of the pesto and then top with some of the ragout.  Sprinkle the ragout with the feta cheese and broil in the oven until the feta is heated through.  Drizzle more of the pesto over the top of the dish before serving. 

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card Notes About Recipe Ratings

Tasty Rating

chefs--5.1

Five Chefs (Gourmet Fare!)

Similar to the dish it is based on, this dish gets 5 chefs for flavor.

Easy Rating

easy--4

Four Easy Chairs (“ABC, Easy as 123…”)

Easy enough that you could probably make it on a weeknight.

Healthy Rating

healthy--4

Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise)

The pesto and feta add some calories and fat to the dish, but they are both very rich in flavor, so a little bit of each can go a long way.

Green Rating

green--3

Three Leaves (Average Environmental Friendliness)

Some organic ingredients, but not all.
Share

Mu Shu Vegetables

Mu Shu Vegetables

I just updated our recipe index for the blog and realized that we may need another category for wraps—I think we’ve posted at least 7 or 8 dishes that involve some sort of wrap.  I’ve talked about my love for wraps before, and today’s recipe is another sign of my proclivity for delicious wrapped foods.

Many Chinese restaurants that we’ve been to feature Mu Shu (or Moo Shu) on their menus, and I am always drawn to it.  Graham and I typically share dishes when we go out to Chinese food and he always asks if there is something new that we should try on the menu. I always seem to insist on the tried and true mu shu vegetable dish though.

Mu Shu Vegetables

For those of you that may not be familiar with mu shu, it usually involves some sort of wrap or pancake that is topped with a little hoisin sauce and lots of flavorful vegetables mixed with a little scrambled egg.  The filling is wrapped up in the pancake and you are left with a savory, sweet and satisfying little bundle of scrumptiousness.  Give it a try the next time you are out for Chinese or better yet, make it yourself at home, which is what we did last week.  It turned out pretty well – see the recipe below…!

Mu Shu Vegetables

Mu Shu Vegetables

Filling

In my experience, shredded cabbage is usually one of the main ingredients in mu shu. For this dish, I decided to use the vegetables I had on hand and some I found at the farmers market.  You can experiment with different combinations.

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame or peanut oil, divided
  • 5-6 baby carrots, thinly sliced
  • 1 lb. green beans, thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch green onions, white part and some of the green thinly sliced
  • 4 baby bok choy, thinly sliced
  • Hoisin sauce (I used Soy Vay Hoisin Garlic Sauce, but any tasty hoisin sauce will probably work)
  • Soy sauce
  • 6-7 basil leaves, roughly chopped

In a small bowl, beat the eggs until the whites and yolks are well incorporated.  Stir in about 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.  Heat a little sesame or peanut oil in a non-stick skillet over low heat.  When the oil is hot, add the eggs.  Let the eggs cook until the bottom just starts to set.  Use a spatula to stir the eggs around.  Continue to gently stir and turn the eggs until there are no uncooked parts remaining.  Use a spatula to move the eggs out of the skillet and into a bowl.  Set aside while you cook the vegetables.

Blanch the sliced baby carrots and green beans.  The carrots and green beans should still be pretty crisp, so don’t cook them in the boiling water for more than a minute or two.  (Here are some good instructions if you’ve never blanched vegetables before).  Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat about a tablespoon of sesame or peanut oil.  Add sliced onions and cook for a few minutes.  Add the blanched carrots and green beans and the bok choy and continue cooking for 4-5 minutes.  Add the cooked eggs and stir in about 2 tablespoons or so of hoisin sauce and about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.  You can adjust the amount of sauce to your taste. Sprinkle with chopped basil leaves and cook for one more minute.

To serve, spread a small amount of hoisin sauce onto a warm crepe/pancake (see recipe below). Top with about ¼ to ½ cup of the filling and fold the crepe like a burrito. 

Crepes/Pancakes

Adapted from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 cup of water
  • ¾ cup of milk (I used almond milk)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

In a blender on high speed, combine the eggs, oil, water, milk, and salt (I put the ingredients into a bowl used an immersion blender).  Add about half of the flour and blend briefly and then add the rest of the flour and blend until just combined.  Set the batter aside for a few minutes to rest (I put mine in the fridge for 20-30 minutes). 

Heat a non-stick skillet (about 7.5 inches at the base) and spread a little vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan (Please make sure the pan is truly non-stick—it can be a nightmare making crepes in a “sticky” pan).  When the oil is hot add about 1/3 cup of batter to the pan and swirl it so that it covers the bottom of the pan.  Cook about 1 minute or until golden on the bottom and then carefully flip the crepe with a spatula.  Cook for another minute or so on the other side.   Repeat until all of the batter is gone.  Crepes can be kept warm in the oven or refrigerated and reheated later.

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card Notes About Recipe Ratings

Tasty Rating

Chefs--4.1

Four Chefs (Delicious!)

Wrapped foods are always a favorite of mine!

Easy Rating

easy--2

Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…)

There are a lot of steps involved in making this dish, which means it can take a while to pull the whole thing together.  However, I wouldn’t say that any of the steps are particularly difficult.

Healthy Rating

healthy--4

Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise)

Lots of healthy veggies in this dish.  The hoisin sauce and soy sauce can add a good amount of sodium though, so be careful how much you add.  Whole wheat crepes may also be a healthier option, but I haven’t nailed down a good recipe for those yet.

Green Rating

green--4

Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved)

The vegetables were mostly organic and local, the eggs were cage-free and organic, and the remaining ingredients were mostly organic.
Share

Raspberry Muffins

IMG_3695

I usually don’t have muffins that often because I’ve found that many muffins that you can buy are kind of like cupcakes, but without frosting.  To me, it seems like there should be some difference between muffins and cupcakes, and really if I am going to have a cupcake, I’d much rather have it with the frosting.  In my opinion, muffins should be healthy enough that you can eat them with breakfast and not feel guilty and sugar loaded for the rest of the morning.  After glancing through the Super Natural Every Day cookbook, I think Heidi Swanson shares this same sentiment, and I was excited to give one of her muffin recipes a try. However, I ended up having to make some major changes to the recipes because I was missing some important ingredients.

Millet was supposed to be the star ingredient in these muffins.  Apparently when you add raw millet to muffin batter the resulting muffins will have an interesting texture and a nice crunch.  When I set out to make these muffins, I was almost positive that I had some millet among the dry grains and beans in my cabinets.  But upon closer inspection, the millet turned out to be amaranth—another nutrient rich whole grain, but one that needs to be fully cooked before it can be consumed.  For a minute I thought I’d cook up a batch of amaranth and add it to the batter, but that seemed like too much work and I wasn’t sure what it would do to the consistency of the muffins.  I also found that I didn’t have any honey, which was the sweetener called for in the recipe.  I fretted a bit about these missing ingredients, but since I had most of the other ingredients and some fresh raspberries I wanted to add to the original recipe, I decided to go ahead and make the muffins, Sally-style!

IMG_3681

The resulting muffins were light and fluffy and not too sweet, and the flavor kind of reminded me of a pancake. I did replace some of the honey with maple syrup, and they may have tasted even more like pancakes if I had replaced all of the honey with the maple syrup (I replaced the other half with brown rice syrup).  The real star ingredient ended up being the raspberries though. Their sweet-tart flavor really stood out in almost every bite.  Eventually I’ll probably make the recipe as intended, but these little muffins really hit the spot.

Raspberry Mini Muffins

Adapted from Super Natural Every Day

  • 1½ cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup fat free plain yogurt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 10 tablespoons butter, barely melted
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup brown rice syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 6 oz (roughly a cup) raspberries, cut in half

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Line a mini-muffin tin with muffin cups or grease with butter.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, eggs, melted butter, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and vanilla.  Slowly add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Carefully fold the raspberries into the batter.

Fill the cups in the muffin tin until the batter is just below the rim.  Bake for 11 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are beginning to turn golden and just starting to crack (bake for roughly 15 minutes, if using a muffin tin with larger cups). 

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card Notes About Recipe Ratings

Tasty Rating

Chefs--4.1

Four Chefs (Delicious!)

These mini-muffins are like mini-pancakes and might be even better with ½ cup maple syrup instead of ¼ cup maple syrup and ¼ cup brown rice syrup.

Easy Rating

easy--4

Four Easy Chairs (“ABC, Easy as 123…”)

It is a little tedious cutting raspberries in half, but these are easy and relatively quick muffins to make.

Healthy Rating

healthy--3

Three Apples (Average Nutritional Quality)

In comparison to other muffins out there these win on the health scale because of the fruit and whole grain flour.  The added sweeteners and fat do make them a little bit of an indulgence though.

Green Rating

green--4

Four Leaves (Mother Earth Approved)

Most of the ingredients were organic, but not local.
Share

Baked Chiles Rellenos with Smoky Tomato Sauce

Baked Chiles Rellenos

Well this recipe has been a long time coming!  I’m kind of embarrassed to post something that I made so long ago, but I said I’d share this dish in my last post, and I try to keep my promises as best I can!  But before I talk about the dish, I’ll share a little bit about what has kept me away from Tasty Easy Healthy Green for so long…

I’m proud to report that I successfully finished the first year of my PhD program!  I spent many nights and weekends studying for my classes, and sometimes felt like the random concoctions that I quickly threw together to eat did not reflect what a PhD student in nutrition should be eating.  Now that I have a little more time this summer, I’m hoping to do some more nutritionally-balanced cooking and post those recipes here more often.  Graham and I have also gained a new nephew and brother-in-law in the last few months.  My sister gave birth to a baby boy in February and Graham’s sister got married in April.  We are thrilled to have both Noah and Brian as part of the family!  Amongst all the studying and family celebrations we’ve also done a little bit of traveling and managed to fit in a move to a new house!  Whew! Like I said, it’s been a busy few months!

Baked Chiles Rellenos

Now that you’ve read all of my excuses for being absent, it is probably best to get back to the recipe…I made these baked chilies rellenos for Valentine’s Day, and have to say that it was a bit of an effort!  Maybe it was because I was making dessert crepes at the same time I was trying to assemble the rellenos, but I remember being extremely frustrated with getting the panko coating onto the poblano peppers.  The peppers kind of fell apart when I stuffed them and the panko didn’t really stick to the peppers that well.  I ended up pinning the peppers together with wooden skewers and then dipping them in the egg mixture and panko. The whole process was pretty messy.  Because of my frustration, I was tempted to say that I’d never make this dish again, but the flavors were good enough that I may give it another go.  However, I think I might make more of a lasagna type dish, where I layer the chiles, filling, cheese and sauce, and then top the whole thing off with some crispy panko crumbs.  I’ll let you know if I try it again, and will share any helpful hints I may have for assembling the rellenos…

Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:

Recipe Report Card Notes About Recipe Ratings

Tasty Rating

Chefs--4.1

Four Chefs (Delicious!)

The smoky sauce, cheesy filling, and crispy panko made this dish a winner!

Easy Rating

easy--2

Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…)

As I mentioned above, I was very frustrated with this dish and may not follow the same lengthy and messy procedure to put it together again.

Healthy Rating

healthy--4

Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise)

Using low-fat cheese and lots of vegetables in the filling, and baking the rellenos instead of frying them made this dish a lot healthier than traditional chiles rellenos.

Green Rating

green--2

Two Leaves (Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides Rock)

I used a few organic ingredients, but most were conventional.
Related Posts with Thumbnails
Share